bidding war over penthouse loft at 73 Worth Street that started at 2006

winning at putting, puttering
The Manhattan loft #PH-E at 73 Worth Street is another loft that recently raced to contract, like the loft in my September 9 post, 11 West 20 Street loft zooms through market, beats higher floor. Long story, short: to market on June 3 at $2.395mm; in contract by June 24 at a premium; closed on August 20, so the sellers put $2.475mm in their pocket (and the bank’s coffers) and walked away 11 weeks after they started selling. But this is Manhattan Loft Guy, so you know you will hear a longer story….

first, the loft
Duplexed lofts can be awkward: some feel boxy-upon-boxy; some cheat by taking high ceilings and making you feel cramped. This one is a true penthouse and a true duplex (built as such), with a Long-and-Narrow lower level on the rooftop, set back from the building edges, with terraces at either end, and an upper level (further set back) with the master suite and a den / 4th bedroom, and yet another terrace. With south-facing glass walls in both levels, there will not be many Tribeca lofts with more light. There are said to be "2,015 sq ft" of interior space, and "800 sq ft" in the three terraces.

The babble is enthusiastic without being hysterical. There are proper proper names in the right places, and this is the first listing description that I recall to ever use both "putting" and "puttering". Nicely played, ma’am, nicely played.

the history
Whether or not the early bird of lore gets that worm, the modest sellers get the contract. And these sellers were modest.

They paid the funny number $2,392,887 in March 2006. Many, many sellers are tempted to test The Market; many fewer are motivated to take the money and run. These sellers announced thtat they were money-runners by asking only $2,113 more than they had paid 51 months earlier. Even calling this "more" is a bit misleading, as they essentially just rounded to the nearest $5,000 increment.

There were two prior 2010 sales in the building when they came to market in June. Unit 5D is a similar size (simplex; ‘only’ 2 bedrooms) at "1,925 sq ft"; it cleared on February 4 at $907/ft, without considering a small (130 sq ft) balcony. Unit 5B is a bit bigger, at "2,571 sq ft", with ‘only’ 3 bedrooms; it traded on January 21 at $1,007/ft. Roughing out an average per-foot interior value from these two building comps within 6 months, that’s $957/ft; extrapolated to Penthouse E, that’s just over $1.9mm for the interior. Perhaps they rounded up, to an even $2,000,000 of implied interior value, making a positive adjustment for the higher floor, better light and true penthouse nature of their unit, while still staying within the achieved price-per-foot of #5B at $1,007/ft.

If they were so formulaic and got to a $2mm value for their "2,015 sq ft" interior, when the Penthouse E sellers priced at $2.395mm they were (intentionally or not) using The Miller Rule for valuing outdoor space by discounting the very useful, very private, very integrated terraces by at least 50%. (See May 6, riffing with The Miller on the value of Manhattan terraces, decks + balconies.) For the anal among you, that would work this way:

$992/ft for 2,105 interior sq ft = $2mm
  plus
$992/ft for 400 exterior sq ft (discounting the actual terraces by 50%) = $396,800
  total = $2,396,800

I have no idea how these sellers actually came up with their asking price. But it is interesting (or, perhaps, coincidental) that it is (relatively) easy to back out a very justifiable theory, based on two same-building-same-year prior sales and The Miller Rule for outdoor space.

Of course, it is even more interesting that The Market found that asking price of $2.395mm inadequate, by $80,000. Only a 3% premium, but a premium nonetheless, achieved within 3 weeks.

Nicely played, sellers, nicely played.

"slow" Summer did not begin in June (at least for 2 lofts)
You hear a lot about seasonality, and a lot about how the fast(er) market of 2010 slowed down in the Summer. You’d never know it from these two lofts, however. Unless June is too early to be called Summer. (UrbanDigs always does a good job on trend theories like Seasonality, often attacking The Anecdotes with Actual Data [how refreshing!]; see Noah’s September 6, The August Lull, for one such discussion.)

Compared to the 5th floor at 11 West 20 Street (June 2 to June 18 contract), the 73 Worth Street #PH-E was a relative laggard (June 3 to June 24). But I am sure they were not complaining when the movers pulled up on Worth Street last month.

net, net
Molto props to the sellers of Penthouse E at 73 Worth Street and their BHS agent, Jennie Holman.

© Sandy Mattingly 2010